blog

AS Media Studies – Checklist for a Top Quality Blog.

Name _______________________________

Assess your progress and set tasks you have left to complete:

Preliminary Task

O   Flat plans of front and contents page

O   What you expect to find in a school magazine

O   Both front page and contents page should be on your blog (and printed in colour)

O   What have you learnt from the process?

Main task – research

O   Institution explanation – choose a magazine institution and give a factfile about them. Include example magazines and the institution you will use.

O   Evidence of research and analysis of three front pages.

O   What have you learnt from front pages that you will use in your magazine?

O   Research and analysis of three double page features and contents pages.

O   What you have learnt from the double page features and contents pages.

O   Font choices – analysis and explanation of different font choices for your front page and within your magazine.

O   Screenshots of all your images for your magazine and explanation of where / when you took them

O   Flat plan for all four of your pages with explanations for your design of each.

O   Word document showing your images for all three pages, explaining why you have selected them and how they appeal.

O   Summary of the magazine you will make – title/genre/what content will it have/ audience/how will it appeal?

O   Evidence to show that you have edited images – including before and after screen shots. Describe and explain the changes you made.

O   Explanation of where and when you took your images.

O   Prezi summary of all you have found out from your research including shot types, facial espression theory.

Main task

O   Initial version of your magazine front page should be completed

O   Peer evaluation comments on your front cover and improvements that can be made. Photo uploaded.

O   Final version of your front page

O   Explanation for how it meets the audience needs and how you designed it.

O   Initial version of your magazine contents should be completed

O   Final version of your contents page

O   Explanation for how the contents meets the audience needs and how you designed it.

O   Initial version of your magazine double page should be completed

O   Final version of your contents page

O   Explanation for how the double page meets the audience needs and how you designed it.

Evaluation

O   Full evaluation including detailed use of key media terms used in your research.

O   Use of Prezi, video, opinions. Screen shots etc in a creative evaluation.

Teacher comments and current grade

Evaluation

Qu1) - In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

Ideas for Creative Presentations

This question lends itself nicely to producing a video or a prezi (see examples below). If you don't create a video for this question then you will need to for another one. Videos can be split screen with half of you discussing your production and comparing it to real media texts and the other half examples of what you're discussing or you can opt for a voice over with images on screen of what you're discussing.

You must - compare you products to professional products. You should include screen shots of both your work and professional texts and highlight the similarities. Strong responses to this question would cut up professional texts and aspects of their own work to discuss the micro detail.

The aspects we would like you to consider across your work are:

Consider the title/masthead: is it conventional? (you can refer to your research here and Mastheads that have influenced your own)

Mise en scene of your images:  How did you decide on the location, lighting etc… how did this reflect the genre of your magazine/was it conventional (you could refer to your research again here and suggest music magazines that use a similar style of photography.) Type of shot used (high angle, close up. Mid shot, low angle…) why did you choose this camera shot; for what purpose and what would the impact be on the audience? Did you manipulate your photographs in Photoshop to create a particular effect – to represent you music genre more? Were you challenging or following conventions?

Costumes and Props: How did your costumes and props represent your band/artist? How do they reflect your genre? Do these costumes and props feature heavily in other music magazines of the same genre? Did you challenge or follow conventions?

People: What people did you feature in your magazine? Are they conventional for music magazines of your genre? Consider the age, ethnicity, gender of the bands/artist you have featured… is this conventional?

Title Font and Styles: what decisions did you make about the font choice?  How did you make sure this was reflected through the entire magazine? How did you create this font (manipulated in paint/downloaded from DaFont). How did you make sure the style of magazine was reflected throughout the whole issue? What impact did you want the font to have?  Use images to support

Copy/Written Content: How did you choose the style of language? How does this reflect the audience and the music genre? Did the use of slang/exclamation marks talk to the audience in a more direct way/in a way that they can identify with? Is there a magazine found in your research that uses the same style?

How is genre reflected in your magazine? What techniques have you used to reflect the genre of your magazine? Type of bands/artist/ colour/overall construction/mise en scene/prop / use of language/contents etc

Layout of Front Cover, Contents page and Double page spread: take each of these on their own and discuss how you have followed or challenged conventions for the construction of each of the pages.  What is the balance/proportion of text to image? Is this a conventional approach? What was the purpose of this approach? Have you challenged conventions for any aspects o f your magazine pages or have you decided to follow conventions? Why? Use another magazine to support why you have taken this decision

Concluding Paragraph: Overall have you challenged or followed conventions? Why? (to make is behave like a real magazine/to satisfy  audience expectations/give the audience something different)

Qu2)- How does your media product represent particular social groups?

Ideas for Creative Presentations
You can create a youtube video (see below). You could create a prezi presentation that includes images of your social group(s) in other media including existing magazines / newspaper articles / album covers / music videos etc.
You must include analysis of your own product suggesting how you've constructed representations of particular social groups. This could be tribes, youth, men or women. You should answer these questions:

1. How have you represented them (through the use of mise en scene/props/costumes/lighting/location/use of language/camera angle/type of pose (body language)/mode of address (consider eye-contact and behaviour reflected in the photograph)/ models pose 
2. Is there an attitude coming across in your images/use of language that reflects the social groups and music genre?) Is there a music magazine that uses a similar style (use images to support)?

Qu3) - What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?

Ideas for Creative Presentations
You could use Pixton to create a comic book, you could also create a Xtranormal animation where you give a sales pitch to a member of staff at the institution you think would produce and publish your magazine.  You could also produce a video that you can upload to Youtube  and embed into your blog.

1. First you need to outline the stages of production that your product would go through www.skillset.org is very useful. Then you need to outline what role a distributor has. This can be done as a short paragraph with some illustration to support points that you make. However you could create this section as a comic strip using www.pixton.com. Remember it's just a brief overview of the production process.
2. You need to research into magazine/film distributors: What company would distribute your product. You should look at their magazine portfolio for this - do they distribute magazines from the same music genre as yours?
3. When thinking about why they might distribute your product think about the types of magazines they already work with - do they know the target audience well? What benefit would this have when distributing your product? Is your product similar but slightly different? Why might this be a good thing? Does the company have a good reputation? Why is this important? IS your product mainstream or more niche (this will affect the company that works with it)?
4. How would your magazine be advertised? How are similar magazines/films advertised and where are they sold/viewed?

5. How would your product be distributed? Think about changing society as we see the emergence of web 2.0. Alongside shops how else might your product reach people e.g. would people subscribe through the web and have the magazine posted to their house? For Video think about Youtube, festivals, cinema etc

Qu4)  Who would be the audience for your media product?

Ideas for Creative Presentations

For this question you can either create a video montage of who your audience would be or a cut and stick A4 mood board or an online poster or sketch with a supporting paragraph Try and use; http://www.glogster.com/. Refer to magazine 'Readership Profiles' to support. You may find you need an evaluative paragraph following your creative presentation in order to ensure the quality of your response. You could embed youtube music videos to your blog to show what bands your audience are interested in. You could also create an ipod on Mixpod with the music that your audience would listen to which can then be embedded into your blog.

Either way you need to;
1. Visually show who your audience members are (a selection of photographs and cut out magazine images would be good)

2. Outline what tastes they have (shops, labels, drinks etc.)

3. What they do in their spare time (sport, clubbing, going to gigs etc.)

4. What type of music or genre of films to they listen to/watch? (images of bands, cd covers)

Detailed original audience research will help you greatly with this question. In your supporting paragraph you could write about their age, socio-economic status and their gender. Embed your video from YouTube into your blog or scan in your moodboard.

Also consider and include the following:

Who is the core buyer of your magazine?

Consider percentage of males to females, ethnicity, age.

What socio-economic group do they fall into?*

Psychographic profiling** – this describes the behaviour of your audience and investigates how people see themselves (which group would your audience fall into?). How have you used this information to ‘strike a cord’ with your audience (competitions, exclusive interviews and reviews, brand/technology adverts (from your flat plan)

*Socio-economic group

A - HIGH RANKING PROFESSIONALS; LAWYERS, DOCTORS ETC

B - MIDDLE CLASS PROFESSIONALS; MIDDLE MANAGERS IN BUSINESS, TEACHERS

C1 - “ WHITE COLLAR” OFFICE WORKERS; JUNIOR MANAGERS, OFFICE CLERKS, BANK CLERKS, NURSES ETC

C2 - SKILLED MANUAL WORKERS; CARPENTERS, ELECTRICIANS ETC

D - SEMI SKILLED AND UNSKILLED MANUAL WORKERS; DRIVERS, POST SORTERS, LABOURERS

E - PEOPLE SUBSISTING ON STATE BENEFITS; THE UNEMPLOYED, PENSIONERS ETC

**Psychographic profiling

Reformer: An independent thinker, craving harmony and authenticity

Explorer: Someone desiring discovery, challenge and new experiences

Succeeder: A goal-orientated organiser who needs control

Aspirer: A materialistic seeker of status

Mainstreamer: Someone in search of security, belonging and routine

Struggler: An escapist who lives for today but is often viewed as a loser

Resigned: Someone focused on survival and nostalgia with long-held values

Qu5) How did you attract/address your audience?

This question requires you to refer to the forms and conventions that you used in order to appeal to your target audience (you'll need to refer back to your initial primary audience research).

You MUST include some audience feedback on your finished products. You can also refer to your continued audience feedback.

Ideas for Creative Presentations

Take images of each participant and record what they have to say about your work, or record a video response for you and embed in your blog from YouTube. You could then add jpegs of your magazine pages so we hear your audience feedback but see your product. Alternatively you could do this as a news broadcast (with you interviewing participants)*. You could use pixton to create a comic about how you targeted them or an animation. You could be a news broadcaster and have this as breaking news!

To complete these questions:

Insert your products into your blog and annotate them in line with professional magazines which have a similar target audience - what have you done that's similar in order to have audience appeal (colours, poses, costume, fonts). Then point out what stylistic decisions you made in light of your initial primary audience research (did you challenge any of the professional texts in order to make your product appeal to its intended audience?) You should consider the following: Use of language/mode of address, Use of font, Contents (ref to bands/exclusives), Images, Masthead, Choice of representations, Layout 

Highlight how you made changes to your rough cut in light of audience feedback (include images of your rough cuts and compare to your final products, clearly signalling where the changes took place and why).

* Conduct some final audience feedback with your target audience. The questions below would make a useful start.

                   - What draws your attention to the product?
                   - What genre is it and how do you know?
                   - What do you consider are the strengths of the product?
                   - Would you purchase the product and why?
                   - How would you improve the product?
You should also consider how your initial (and continued) audience research impact on your decisions on how to target your audience? How did you modify your product in order to meet target audience needs more effectively?

Qu6) What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

Here you need to reflect on what you have learnt! The key words here are 'Creativity' and 'Skill Development'. Do not fall into the trap of simply describing what technologies you used; you need to evaluate what you learnt through each technology used.  You need to be really specific about what you learnt, stating the tool/techniques you have used (this is where you can use your print screens come in handy). How did this piece of software improve or benefit your production?

You could take photos of each other holding the technology you used and then annotate it saying what you learnt from it. You could also, stage a weather broadcast. Use an A1 sheet of paper > sketch (in colour) the logos of the different technologies that you've used > mount a camera on a tripod and like a weather broadcast point to the various logos and outline what features of that technology you used, what skills you developed and what benefit it's had on your production. Prezi / Pixton Comic. You could create a magazine article with the content responding to this question.

You could organise your response in this way:
1. Preliminary Task - What was your experience of using each technology for the preliminary task (some of this may be for the first time). Consider blogger/wix/Indesign/photoshop
2. Research - What technologies did you use to do your research (remember you researched into real media texts and audience)/how did you present your work? What did you learn about these technologies and how were you creative? (Here you can even talk about the use of internet search engines you may have used and how you improved/refined your skills in typing in searches)
3. Planning: What technologies did you use for your planning /what did you learn and how were you creative? Also consider how you developed the way in which you presented your work. You can also include the use of mobiles/facebook to plan your photoshoot and organise your models (consider drafting, location recce, organisation of model(s), prop and costume list, storyboarding)
4. Production: What technologies did you use to capture your shots (consider lighting and your camera). How did you develop your skills from preliminary task to main task in order to create a more successful product. here you can also show evidence of improvement in the shots you took.
5. Post-production: What did you learn about the editing software from preliminary task to main task? Here you need to be really really specific about techniques and tools you used. How did your learning allow you to create a more successful and realistic product? Use print screens to support what your evaluating (cropping an image/saturation, correcting the exposure/using the cutting tool)
6. Evaluation: How were you more creative with your evaluation? What did you learn about the different sites you could use to be creative with your evaluation.

Qu7) Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?

You need to critically reflect on your skill(s) development.

Ideas for Creative Presentations
You could create a PowerPoint, www.prezi.com or an online mindmap using www.bubbl.us (online brainstorm/mindmap creator) that shows how your skills have progressed from the prelim task to the main task.

You could organise slides as so;
1. Research and planning - How have your skills developed and what benefit has this had on your work?  Did you produce work more in line with professional practise as you have a more detailed understanding of the forms and conventions of real media products? Did you manage your time better? Was your work well planned etc.? Did you plan and draft more appropriately so your development was more logical and realistic?
2. Audience - Did you take into account your initial audience research more and has this allowed to create a product that meets their needs more effectively? How did gaining continued audience feedback on your work improve your production and learning? How did offering peer feedback help you to learn and be able to apply this learning to your own product?
3. Construction - Include images of your prelim and main task and compare them. How did your skills develop using software and hardware and how has this improvement evident in your work? Think about: Photography composition (did you understand how to approach your photoshots better in order to get a better choice of image), Page Layout and design (alignment, curing and leading, text to image ratio) Use of Fonts, Use of models and selecting more appropriate mise-en-scene, Content of the magazine. Be really specific about techniques and tools that you learnt and developed.